'55 Hardtop Door Rebuild - Tri-Five Door Rebuild

We Rip The Guts Out Of This '55's Doors And Rebuild Them With New Internals From Danchuk.

The '55 hardtop that is the subject of this story has had a rough life since leaving the St. Louis assembly plant. Despite spending most of that time in South Florida, it's not seen the road under its own power since Reagan's first term in office. In that time, things deteriorated and rusted, so to get the car back in shape and roadworthy, there is a lot to do.

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One area that needs attention is the door mechanicals. Over the decades, they decayed to the point of needing replacement. When you get a good workout just rolling your windows up and down to a symphony of hellish squeaks and rattles, that's a good sign the door internals need attention. One call to Danchuk and we had everything we needed for our portal rehab.

Danchuk was one of the first companies in the Tri-Five restoration parts market, starting with '57 parking light lenses in 1976. Since then, as the popularity of restoring, rebuilding, and customizing these classics has grown to enormous levels, Danchuk's catalog of parts has expanded accordingly, to almost 400 pages worth of '55-57 Chevy parts.

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With the age of the car and the assumption that nothing had ever been replaced, were ordered virtually everything that went inside the doors. The one thing we didn't get new was the scissor lifts for the windows. When we did the power window conversion on our '57 hardtop in last year's Chevy Classics ("Roll 'Em Up, Lock 'Em Down") the lifts we pulled out of that car were in excellent condition and could easily be reused since all two-door hardtops '55-57 shared the same window lifts.

After getting our parts, we hauled the '55 over to Lloyd's Auto Restorations in Bartow, Florida, so restoration expert Jeff Brekke could give us a hand with the installation of our new parts. Jeff has his own '57 Bel Air four-door sedan, and his father Lloyd owns a gorgeous all-original '57 hardtop.

Follow along as we show you how to get your doors' internals back to factory new condition in a day's time. For this story we'll be going back and forth between the passenger and driver's side doors to illustrate the process, but don't worry-everything's the same for both sides.

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These door panels haven't been off since who knows when, so we weren't sure what was lurking beneath them. Assuming the worst, we ordered everything possible that could need replacing from Danchuk.

First up was using a standard door handle removal tool to get all the handles off so we could pull the door panel free. You can find one of these tools for cheap at most local auto parts stores.

We were surprised to find the factory dope and covering tape in place behind the panel, which means no one has likely been in here since the Eisenhower administration. With it out of the way, we hosed down the screws and bolts with PB Blaster penetrating oil to loosen up 55 years worth of gunk and surface corrosion.

After letting the PB Blaster soak in, we started by removing the interior door release actuator rod and mechanism.

Next up was the door latch assembly. You can see how dry and rusted this part has become after sitting unused in the elements for nearly 30 years. Since Danchuk sells brand new latch assemblies, there's no need to fool around with restoring this piece.

With the latch assembly out of the way, next to be removed was the door handle and release button assembly.

On to the door glass: The window is lowered far enough so the screws securing the window assembly itself to the lift can be removed. Normally you'd have to unscrew an inspection plate that covers the large square access hole you see in the photo, but ours had been removed long ago.

Before removing the window, we went ahead and removed the two window followers. The rubber was so old and dried out it was hard as a rock. These rollers support the window as it goes up and down keeping it steady in the window channel.

With everything out of the way, the window assembly is removed. Like most of the original laminate safety glass, ours had yellowed and bubbled with time and exposure to the sun. Yes, Danchuk offers new versions of these too, available tinted or untinted.

With the window out of the way, Jeff removed the six screws holding the window lift in place, and pulled it out of the access hole in the door. Both window lifts looked like the original units, and were pretty rusty and dry, with the springs pretty corroded along with other parts. Our donor lifts from our earlier project '57 look almost new compared to these, so we won't bother with these trying to clean them up or save them. If you need new ones, Danchuk has them, or you could convert your car to power windows like we did with the '57.

The window channel guide is held in with two screws that once removed, let you slide the channel out of the door. These are normally lined with a felt material, which had long ago disintegrated on our doors.

Next, the vent window is uncoupled from the vent window regulator by unscrewing the bolt that secures it to the vent window post, so the regulator can be removed. The regulator is held in by four screws, and once removed the regulator can be pulled out through the access hole at the bottom of the door.

Next, the screws securing the vent window frame assembly are removed. It's a good idea to soak these screws down with penetrating oil and let it soak in before trying to remove them. Ours were pretty tough to get loose, and we had to drill one out that the head rounded off of because it was so rusty and jammed in place.

After the screws are removed, and the window pitch adjuster is backed off, the vent window frame assembly pulls right out the top of the door. At this point, the door is just a shell devoid of all its mechanical parts except for the hinges.

Now the reassembly begins. First, we installed our new door latch mechanism and door handle assembly. Before installation, we sprayed the latch liberally with some good high-pressure lubricant with high adhesion that would not drip off the latch parts once installed. From this point on, everything pretty much installs in reverse order of how it was removed. We installed this part using some of the new stainless steel replacement screws we received form Totally Stainless so the salty Florida air wouldn't affect them like it did the old screws.

To replace the vent window and seal, this rivet must be drilled out to separate the frame assembly.

With the rivet gone, the vent window easily slips out of the frame. Next, the screws holding the old window seal are removed, then the old seal. Our seal looked to be the original, and had split and dried up pretty hard, so it broke apart in many pieces as it was removed. The back part of the seal removes from the frame by bending the holding tabs upward, then sliding the piece out.

A small, flat blade screwdriver is useful as the new vent window seal is installed. Use the tip to work the rubber seal into the channels on the vent window frame.

While test fitting, we noticed the rivets on the bottom of our new vent window assembly protruded down farther than the original ones, and were interfering with the vent window closing properly. Some quick work with the grinder and our clearance issues were solved.

With the new vent window assembly back inside the frame, the frame is riveted back together. Our new vent window came already installed in the chrome channel and regulator rod assembly, so we didn't have to transfer any parts from the old one.

The rear part of the vent window seal was installed, and the securing tabs bent back down in place. These tabs also hold the new main window channel/fur in place, so don't bend the tabs for the channel fur all the way down. You'll read about the channel fur in the following captions.

Before installing the new window channel/fur, we cut and crimped the end to better secure the window "top cap" in place. The aftermarket pieces aren't as tight as the originals, and the top caps are held in by pressure alone.

With our mods done, the channel is set in place over the securing tabs from the vent window seal, then the tabs are bent down to hold the channel in place.

To hold the window channel/fur more securely, we drilled two small holes through the vent window assembly into the window channel/fur, then installed a small pop rivet in each hole. The rivets had a low enough profile they wouldn't interfere with the window going up or down, and with them in place we knew the channel wasn't going anywhere no matter how vigorously the window was operated.

The new top cap is pressed into place, and thanks to our modifications is nice and tight so it won't come out unless we want it to.

With everything finished on the vent window, we reinstalled it into the door and secured it in place.

Before laying the new rear window channel felt in place, Jeff spreads some adhesive in the channel so the new felt will stay put. Allow the adhesive to tack up a little bit before installing the felt piece. Once that's done, the channel reinstalls in reverse of how it was removed, and held in place using more of our Totally Stainless fasteners, and those included with the Danchuk product.

Next up, our new inner door handle assembly is installed, and the pull rod connecting it to the door latch reconnected.

Before installing the new window assembly, we replaced the old bottom stop pads with new ones. The originals were hard as rocks, so if the window hit them they'd just end up damaging the window. This is one of those less than $5 parts that should always be replaced if you're in the doors and yours have hardened similarly.

With everything else done, the new window assembly is set in place. Our new windows from Danchuk came already installed in the chrome frames, and with new lower channels and flapper seals. This made things a lot easier, especially since our original flapper seals were broken off in the doors when we removed the windows, and one of our lower channels had rusted through.

The screws securing the window to the lift are reinstalled, and the window is ready to go.

Next, our new vent window regulator from Danchuk is installed, reconnected to the vent window, and locked in place with new screws. You might have to do a little adjusting o the regulator to get the hole for the bolt that secures the regulator to the vent window post to line up.

Finishing the install off, we installed new upper window stops, new window followers, then adjusted the window pitch so everything aligned properly with all the new parts installed.

With everything adjusted, the whole procedure is complete minus the few minutes it takes to reinstall the door panels. We tried everything out, and while our passenger side door worked like new, we discovered that previous structural damage to the driver's door from long ago had fudged up the door structure so it was causing the window to bind a bit going up and down. With previous repairs and damage, there's no point in trying to save this door (especially if you're on a budget) so we've contacted some fellow '55-57 friends and are hunting down a donor hardtop door to replace it with. We've heard current market price for a good rust-free door is about $100-$300, and it'll be money well spent.